Reader Review: Torchlight

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This review was submitted by Ben Latimore. If you’ve played Torchlight, or just want to ask Ben more about it, leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Torchlight (PC)

From (some) of the developers of Diablo comes a new dungeon-crawler in the vein of Diablo. (Note to self: How many times will I say Diablo in this?)

Loved

Plays like Diablo: While there are several changes to the gameplay, Torchlight plays a lot like Diablo — slug through a dungeon, level up, collect and sell loot, etc. While it may seem milked as a game formula, it’s still a lot of fun.

Massive content like Diablo: Torchlight has 100 experience levels for the three classes, several difficulty levels, randomly generated dungeons and lots of items to collect. To explore everything in-game, it’ll take a while. Like Diablo.

Accessibility like Diablo: The system requirements for this are absolutely INSANE. As in low. Nearly every new computer out today should be able to play it. Like Diablo. There’s even a Netbook mode. A NETBOOK MODE. THAT ACTUALLY IS MEANT FOR NETBOOKS. AND ACTUALLY SPEEDS THE GAME UP. And at $20, even the price is accessible.

Mods like Diablo: I understand this shouldn’t be here yet, as the editing tools haven’t been released yet, but several mods have been released already as proof-of-concept. And Runic is promising to release everything for the game for modders. Artwork, models and everything. Total game conversions will be possible. Diablo-style.

Hated

No multiplayer, unlike Diablo: Torchlight, unlike Diablo, is a single-player affair. No jumping in and helping your friend. Happily, like Diablo, Runic is making a Torchlight MMO, in about two years we’re going to have multiplayer anyway.

Torchlight is the formula for the perfect game — while the lack of multiplayer makes me sad, the price, content, accessibility and potential mod community will keep you satiated until Diablo 3. By the way: I said Diablo 16 times.

Reviewed by: Ben Latimore

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Comments

Steven Bogos Guest

Nov 10, 2009, 3:19pm

I thought that it's inherrent diabloness was more of a flaw.

It really was not disguising the fact that it was a diablo clone. Other diablo clones dungeon crawlers like Titan Quest had enough differences in setting and characters to keep it unique

Torchlight looks like diablo, it SOUNDS like diablo, it PLAYS like diablo, it has CLASSES like diablo, it has Tristram, err, sorry, TORCHLIGHT, like diablo, which begs the question, why not just load up Diablo 2? (which is what i did!)

It is worth mentioning that about 5 members of the team are people who actually invented and worked on Diablo 1 and 2. They have the Schaefer brothers who first made Diablo 1, the guy who is responsible for the D2 1.10 patch, and a couple others. It kind of makes sense for them to go with what they know how to do, and they do it well.

Love it, it's great fun, shared loot box so if you find something cool you can transfer it to another character, and sending your pet back to sell stuff while you keep fighting is absolutely unlivelable without now.

I play these games mostly single player anyhow so that's not a problem... tire of ninja looting in Borderlands so this is a nice change =)